Comprehension

I. Answer these questions in one or two words.

Q1. With what does the poet compare the yellow leaves?
Answer: Hearts

Q2. Who remains undisturbed by the ‘single moan of protest’?
Answer: Anyone who tramples them

Q3. Who are exiled from their song in autumn?
Answer: The birds

Q4. With whom does the poet plead for mercy?
Answer: God of May

Q5. What does the poet mean by the ‘gift of green’?
Answer: Greenery

II. Answer these questions in a few words each.

Q6. What happens to the leaves in autumn?
Answer: The trees are stripped of their leaves, which turn yellow and fall to the ground.

Q7. What do you understand by the expression ‘ebony bodies naked’?
Answer: It refers to the black or dark brown trunks and branches of the trees that are left bare after losing their leaves.

Q8. What does the poet mean by ‘birds that herald dreams’?
Answer: It refers to birds that announce or symbolize dreams, possibly because their songs bring hope and joy.

Q9. How does autumn affect the birds’ lives?
Answer: Autumn makes the birds strangers to their own songs and exiles them, as the barren trees can no longer provide safe shelter, causing them to die.

Q10. Why does the poet invoke God of May?
Answer: The poet invokes the God of May, or the spring season, to bring an end to the “dry spell” of autumn and to rejuvenate nature with new life, greenery, and songs.

III. Answer these questions in detail.

Q11. How does the poet describe the helplessness of the trees in autumn?
Answer: The poet describes the trees as being completely stripped of their foliage, with their “ebony bodies naked.” He personifies the falling yellow leaves as the trees’ hearts being “shorn off” their bodies. Once on the ground, these leaves are trampled “undisturbed by a single moan of protest,” symbolizing the trees’ powerlessness and inability to resist the changes of autumn.

Q12. How does the poet create the impression that autumn is a time of silence?
Answer: The poet creates the impression of silence by focusing on the effect of autumn on the birds. He says that the “birds that herald dreams were exiled from their song, each voice torn out of its throat.” The trees are barren and cannot offer a safe shelter, and the birds are “strangers to their own songs,” which results in a “silenced zone.”

Q13. How does the poem represent the trees as human entities?
Answer: The poet uses personification to represent the trees as human entities. He gives them “ebony bodies naked” and describes how autumn “shook out their hearts, the yellow leaves.” The poem also mentions a “single moan of protest,” implying that the trees can feel pain and displeasure, just like people.

Q14. Do you think that despite the dismal mood of the poem, it expresses the poet’s hope for a positive change?
Answer: Yes, despite the “dismal mood” and “undesirable changes” caused by autumn, the poem definitely expresses hope for a positive change. This is shown in the last part of the poem when the speaker pleads with the “God of May” to “bless these withered bodies with the passion of your resurrection,” to “make their dead veins flow with blood again,” and to “give some tree the gift of green again. Let one bird sing.” This plea for renewal and revival shows a strong sense of hope for the future.

Q15. Why does the poet associate God of May with the ‘passion of resurrection’? Why does he say ‘Let one bird sing’?
Answer: The poet associates the God of May (spring) with the “passion of resurrection” because spring is the season of new life and rebirth, reviving nature from the dead, dry state of autumn. The phrase “resurrection” also has religious connotations of coming back to life. He says, “Let one bird sing” to show that even a single voice of hope and life is enough to overcome the widespread silence and destruction of autumn. It’s a plea for a small, but significant, positive change.

IV. Answer these questions in your own words.

Q16. How does the poet depict autumn through a series of images of violence?
Answer: The poet uses a series of violent images to depict autumn. He says the season “stripped” the trees “down to the skin,” and “shook out their hearts, the yellow leaves.” He also mentions how the leaves are trampled and how the birds’ voices are “torn out of their throats.” Even the birds themselves drop into the dust “before the hunter strung his bow.” These images show autumn as a brutal and destructive force.

Q17. Describe the poet’s distinctive treatment of nature as reflected in the poem.
Answer: The poet gives nature a distinctive, almost human, treatment in the poem. He personifies the trees, referring to their trunks as “ebony bodies” and their leaves as “hearts.” The fallen leaves are said to have a “moan of protest,” showing that the poet sees nature as having feelings and being a victim of violence. This approach goes beyond a simple description of the season and gives the poem a more emotional and political depth.

Q18. How does the poem express the poet’s faith that autumn can only temporarily disturb life in the world of nature?
Answer: The poem expresses the poet’s faith that autumn’s disturbance is temporary by ending with a plea to the “God of May” to bring about a new spring. The poet asks for the “resurrection” of the withered bodies of the trees and for their “dead veins” to flow with blood again, a powerful image of life returning. By invoking the spring season, he shows his belief in the cyclical nature of life and that the beauty and song of nature will eventually be restored.